It looks like the new iPhone's dock connector has received a makeover from past versions, cutting the number of pins from 30 to 19.

New photos and videos indicate that the new iPhone will now have a 19-pin port instead of the 30-pin port that Apple devices have traditionally offered since the third generation iPod.

According to Tech Crunch, the new 19-pin port looks similar to Apple's Thunderbolt port seen on MacBooks, but manufacturers have told the web publication that the new iPhone's pin-out will be different from Thunderbolt's.

Lots of new iPhone rumors have been circulating lately, such as videos showing the unibody casing and leaked photos presenting the longer screen and metal backplates. These leaks confirmed a few new iPhone specs, such as the relocated headphone jack and metal antenna molded into the backplates.

However, some other specs remain unclear, such as the size of the SIM card. A video showing new iPhone specs revealed a smaller SIM card holder piece, but no measurements have been released.

I'm going to bet that the new dock connector is electrically compatible with the old one, and that only a few seldom/non-used pins were removed. Six pins were originally set aside for Firewire (back when iPods supported both), and those have probably gone unused for the past five years. That leaves another 5 pins that were removed. It's possible that some rare accessories may have used these pins, but most things should work with a dumb adapter.

... it's not going to stop Apple from charging you $19 for it though.

"If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it." -- SCEA President Jack Tretton